Palestinian Shot Dead After Stabbing Soldier

Published Feb 13, 2016 at 8:43 AM

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Israeli settlers and security forces gather at the site where a Palestinian woman tried to stab an Israeli soldier before being shot dead, in the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on February 13, 2016.

A knife-wielding Palestinian woman attacked an Israeli soldier on guard near a sensitive West Bank holy site sacred to both Jews and Muslims on Saturday, wounding him and a Palestinian bystander before she was shot and killed by Israeli troops, the military said.

The incident occurred in Hebron, a flashpoint during the last five months of violence, in which Palestinians have carried out near-daily attacks, mainly stabbings.

The soldier was lightly wounded. A Palestinian who intervened to try to stop the attacker was stabbed and more seriously wounded, and was taken to a hospital for treatment, the military said.

About 850 Israeli settlers live in heavily-guarded enclaves in Hebron, surrounded by tens of thousands of Palestinians. Much of the animosity in the biblical city is over a holy site known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Many of the Palestinian attackers over the past five months have been from Hebron.

The attacks since mid-September -- stabbings, shootings and vehicular assaults -- have killed 27 Israelis. At least 157 Palestinians, the majority of whom Israel says were attackers, have been killed by Israeli fire.

Israel says the ongoing violence is fueled by a campaign of incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders that is compounded on social media sites that glorify attacks. Palestinians say it stems from frustration at nearly five decades of Israeli rule and dwindling hopes for gaining independence.